The Wisłoujście Fortress is currently undergoing intensive revitalisation works. Their total value is PLN 29.6 million and they are being carried out using four sources of funding, three of which come from programmes implemented by the European Union. At the same time, work is also underway on the Napoleonic barracks located on the Eastern Wall. Here, funding of PLN 1.2 million was obtained from the Interreg South Baltic 2014-2020 programme, with the Municipality of Gdańsk subsidising the work to the tune of PLN 4.1 million net
One of the most visible changes to the renovated fortress is the covered rim, which is located at the heart of Fort Carre. Originally, in the 16th century, it was a wall surrounding the tower, with two rows of windows allowing artillery firing. It was not until the 17th century, with the expansion of the fortifications, that the windows on the lower floors were bricked up and tenement houses were built outside the wall for residential quarters. The latter received new historicising window joinery and 17th-century colours. Inside the quarters, workshop rooms and exhibition halls are to be housed. Work is being carried out on the Ostroróg and South-East bastions, which are also to be opened to tourists eventually. They are currently being revalorised, protected from damp and de-moulded. In the longer term, the inner courtyard of Fort Carre will be levelled
– In fact, this project is about restoring the fortress to cultural activities that promote our heritage – the heritage of Gdansk, Pomerania, but also European heritage. This is because from the very beginning, when creating the fortification, Gdańsk inhabitants invited here from all over Europe the most eminent masters – emphasised Waldemar Ossowski, Director of the Gdańsk Museum. – Hence, the fortifications were first built in the Old Italian school, then in the New Italian school, and still later the rampart was also made in the Old Dutch school
The Gdansk Museum is carrying out two more investments on the Eastern Ramparts. Revitalisation work is underway on the so-called ‘Napoleonic barracks’, in which the Archaeology and Tourism Centre is to be built, and the so-called ‘University hangar’, taken over from the University of Gdańsk. The latter will house one of the largest, a three-metre-long model of the St George’s ship, an exhibition hall, a reception area and multifunctional toilets and sanitary facilities. The third initiative will be a year-round outdoor trail that will highlight key elements of the landscape, including the powder magazine. In the longer term, it is planned to restore one of the tower’s historic helmets. It is intended that a replica of the 1721-1829 tower finial would raise the tower to 41 metres above sea level. The tower and courtyard would be illuminated at night and the intensity of the light would be adjusted according to the season and the bats hibernating there. However, the project submitted to the Government Programme for the Reconstruction of Monuments for the Historical Monument of the Republic of Poland was rejected
Wisłoujście Fortress in 2013 and 2023. Source: konikmorski, CC BY-SA 3.0 PL, via Wikimedia Commons and media.muzeumgdansk.pl
The works were also accompanied by interesting discoveries. On one of the stone sills of the upper storey of the tower windows, probably the only modern artillery settee in Poland was discovered, and the probable place of detention of the 19th-century satirist Johannes Trojan was located, or at least there is an almost 99% chance of it. A big surprise is the discovery of the 16th-century entrance gate to the fortress, which is located on the side of the… Dead Vistula River. During works in the courtyard of Fort Carre, traces of rails were also discovered, which from the second half of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century facilitated the transport of ammunition to the artillery fortifications in Stogi
The uncovered details will be elements of a system of sightseeing paths, which will be related to the mountain trails
Source: media.muzeumgdansk.pl
Read also: Architecture | Elevation | Metamorphosis | Museum | Renovation | Monument | History | Gdańsk | Interesting facts
